Uncle Ho is Dead

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire

26 February 2008

Various Armed Groups in Kenya

KENYA: Armed and dangerous

Firearms are much less widely available in Kenya than in neighbouring countries. In the context of this article, “armed groups” include those using machetes, spears, poison arrows and clubs.

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Mungiki

A secretive, outlawed and quasi-religious group dating back to the 1980s, whose exclusively Kikuyu male membership is drawn mainly from Central Province. Mungiki (“multitude” in Kikuyu) claims ideological links with the anti-colonial Mau-Mau movement. While rooted in the Central Province, Mungiki has a strong presence in the slums of Nairobi, where it controls and charges for access to basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation. It is alleged to have close links to senior Kikuyu politicians.

Before the current crisis, tenants moving in or out of some slums had to pay Mungiki Ksh150 (just over US$2), which soared to Ksh2,000 ($28.50) once violence broke out. The group also operates protection rackets, including in the public transport sector, confiscating the property of small businesses that refuse to pay a daily “fee”. Mungiki also holds “trials” for people who violate its strict rules of dress or behaviour, detaining, maiming and even killing those it finds guilty.

24 February 2008

Their Deepest, Darkest Discovery

Researchers in New York reported this month that they have created a paper-thin material that absorbs 99.955 percent of the light that hits it, making it by far the darkest substance ever made -- about 30 times as dark as the government's current standard for blackest black.

The material, made of hollow fibers, is a Roach Motel for photons -- light checks in, but it never checks out. By voraciously sucking up all surrounding illumination, it can give those who gaze on it a dizzying sensation of nothingness.

1. Tank traps (dragon's teeth, ditches) in the outer perimter around one's position.2. IEDs/mines3. RPGs up the butt. Preferably 3 at a time. 4. Bunkers: at least standard infantry trenches, if not serious bunkers.5. Commando teams.6. Strategy: Try to deal with one vehicle at a time. Use the Swiss cheese method: Nibble a little bit at a time. Be proactive: Try to prevent them from even reaching the front through commando raids. We are most vulnerable to a massed attack.

Russian 2A72 30-mm cannon guns

(Note: As far as I can work out, this gun is basically an industrial machine gun that fires explosive and/or armour-piercing shells. Very nasty.)1. Snipers. Marksmen.2. Commando teams.

In recent years, China has largely reinforced military cooperation with African countries through the strategy of trading oil for weapons ... In 2005 Sudan exported to China 6.62 million tons of crude oil, about 5.2 percent of China's total oil imports that year. China has a 40-percent stake in Sudan's largest international oil consortium.

1. Destroy oil infrastructure.

Other Chinese weapons currently in service in the Sudanese forces include: